Atomic Hoagie Shop Filming Location – Where Rocky Looked Out for Little Marie
The Atomic Hoagie Shop is more than just a street corner in Rocky (1976) — it’s where Rocky Balboa gave one of his most brutally honest life lessons to a neighborhood girl named Little Marie. This scene cuts deep into what made Rocky who he was: a guy who noticed the kids slipping through the cracks and tried to give them a shot at something better.
Where is the Atomic Hoagie Shop?
This filming location is on the corner of 12th and Cantrell Street in South Philadelphia. The building that played the shop was constructed in 1920, and during the time of filming, it operated as a small Italian grocery store. The kind of place that sold mozzarella, ricotta, and all the essentials for a South Philly dinner table.
In the years since Rocky V, the store was converted into a private apartment, and its exterior was completely redone. But if you walk the surrounding blocks, you’ll recognize it — the buildings next door and across the street still look almost exactly like they did in the film.
Rocky and Little Marie
In Rocky, this is the corner where Rocky catches Little Marie hanging with a rough crowd. He walks her home and tells her like it is:
“Twenty years from now people are gonna say hey, do you remember Marie? No – who was she? She’s that little whore that hung down at the Atomic Hoagie Shop.”
It’s one of the rawest lines in the entire series. Rocky wasn’t trying to hurt her — he was trying to warn her. He saw where she was headed, and he stepped in. This moment shows just how much he cared about the people in his neighborhood, even the ones most adults ignored.
Home Team: Rocky and Rocky Junior in Rocky V
This corner shows up again in Rocky V, reinforcing its place in the Balboa universe. In Rocky 5, we see Robert Balboa smoking on the steps of the Atomic Hoagie Shop – the very same spot where we first met Marie in 1975. In the distance, we see Rocky walking west along Cantrell Street approaching this corner. “Tonight’s a good night for both of us to start this wisein’ up thing,” Rocky tells his kid.
Years Later in Rocky Balboa
When Rocky reconnects with Little Marie decades later in Rocky Balboa (2006), she’s living somewhere else, raising her son Steps. Click here to visit that filming location.
